Turku Music Festival serves as a stage for cultural cooperation between Estonia and Finland in August

Internationally renowned Estonian composer Arvo Pärt will turn 90 years old in September 2025. Pärt's music is known for its minimalism and for having attracted listeners from outside the world of classical music for decades.

To celebrate this milestone for Pärt, the Turku Music Festival will bring a significant amount of Estonian cultural expertise to Turku during its festival weeks in August. In addition to the compositions themselves, the collaboration will bring Estonian artists from the fields of music and visual arts to Turku. The anniversary week will feature performances by, among others, the Grammy Award-winning Vox Clamantis choir, violinists Mari Poll and Hans Christian Aavik, visual artist Joonas Sildre, pianists Tähe-Lee Liiv and Mart Ernesaks, and cellist Marcel Johannes Kits. Even Estonian Minister of Culture Heidy Purga will step behind the DJ booth alongside Pekka Haavisto as part of the Pärt celebrations on Luostarin Välikatu.

The Estonian Embassy in Finland is delighted that this renowned Estonian composer is being celebrated in Finland: “Arvo Pärt’s music and his unique soundscape have touched millions of people. The decision by the Turku Music Festival to include his works in the festival program is a wonderful tribute to Pärt on his 90th birthday. I am particularly pleased that our talented musicians will have the opportunity to perform at this prestigious festival for both Finnish and international audiences," comments Grete Ahtola, Cultural Counselor at the Estonian Embassy in Finland.

The artist exchange has been enabled by cooperation between numerous different parties in Finland and Estonia. The Finnish-Estonian Cultural Foundation has promoted these visits with grants, and cooperation with the Turku Music Festival, the embassy, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and the Arvo Pärt Centre has played a key role.

"Cultural cooperation between Estonia and Finland is exceptionally rich and meaningful. Estonia is an important partner for us at the Turku Music Festival, and we are constantly inspired by its vibrant and bold cultural life. Through such collaborations, art speaks its strongest language: the language of solidarity, connection and hope", Jussi Merikanto, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival, comments.

The cultural cooperation includes five concerts and events in August:

Arvo Pärt: The Formula of Love, 13.8. at 7 PM, Sibelius Museum
Night of the Arts: Between Two Sounds, 14.8. at 6 PM, Art House Turku
Arvo Pärt 90, 15.8. at 7 PM, Turku Cathedral
Afterparty at the Makasiinit: DJ Pexi & Heidy Purga, 15.8. at 9 PM, Luostarin Välikatu
Vox Clamantis, 16.8. at 7.30 PM, Turku Cathedral

The Turku Music Festival starts on Wednesday 30.7.2025. See the full programme at tmj.fi.